History

It was founded in Melbourne in 1886 by two American brothers, William and Ralph Foster of New York, who happened to own a refrigeration plant, which was necessary to brew beer in Australia's hot climate. They sold the brewery the following year and returned to the United States.

In 1983, Carlton and United Breweries purchased Elders IXL, a giant Australian diversified conglomerate, and was renamed the Elders Brewing Group. Then in 1990, the Elders Brewing Group changed its name to the Foster's Group, to reflect the name of their most internationally recognised product.

In 2005, Foster's Group acquired the Australian wine-making group Southcorp. This acquisition added famous brands such as Penfolds, Lindemans and Rosemount to the Foster's stable and around $1 billion AUD to revenues.

Business

In 1990, Asahi Breweries acquired a 19.9% stake in Australian brewery giant Elders IXL which later became Foster' s Group.

The company is committed to high standards of Occupational Health and Safety, however in August 2008, it was convicted and fined more than $1-million for two breaches of Victoria's (Australia's) Occupational Health and Safety Act which led to the death of a worker in 2006 . The prosecution of the company by the Director of Public Prosecutions for WorkSafe Victoria resulted in a call for the company to better report on health and safety in its Annual Report.